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Saab
2001: 15 April --> Per Eklund took fourth place in
Easter Sunday's `Queenstown Race to the Sky'
hillclimb - south island,
New Zealand.
His car is the four wheel drive Saab special, as used
in the European Rallycross Championship.
The hillclimb is 15km long with 137 corners rising from 500m to 1700m
in the Waiorau Mountain Range in the Cardrona Valley near Lake Wanaka.
Eklund's time was 9 minutes 5 seconds.
The Saab has 600hp but Ekland said
"Maybe we needed another 100 or 150 horsepower."
Results:
1. Possum Bourne (Subaru Impreza
WRC)
8m 37s;
2. Rod Millen (Toyota Hilux) 8m 48s;
3. `Monster' Tajima (Suzuki Vitara) 8m 56s;
4. Per Eklund (Saab 9-3) 9m 05s.
2000:
A special four wheel drive
Saab 9-3 Viggen with a 515kW (700hp) 800Nm
turbo charged 2-litre engine,
six speed gearbox,
and four wheel drive.
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This special (above) is for European Rallycross champion,
Per Eklund, to use in the 2000 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, 3 July.
It is said to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in under 2.5 seconds.
The climb starts at an altitude of 2865m (9,402 feet)
and over a distance 20km (12.42 miles) and through 156 corners
climbs to 4300m (14,110 feet).
In 1994 Rod Millen set an outright record of 10:04.06
in a Toyota Celica turbo 4wd.
2000, 4 July:
Per Eklund earned his money, setting a Pikes Peak Open class record of
11 minutes 21.58 seconds for the climb.
Only Larry Ragland's GMC Envoy was faster
(11:17.66) in the High Tech Truck and SUV class.
Rod Millen, who holds the outright record (10:04.06),
blew a turbo on his unlimited-class Toyota Tacoma and failed to finish.
There are rumours that this happy news for Saab
is an indication of four wheel drive Saab road cars to come,
courtesy of General Motors investment.
The lack of 4WD in Saabs to date does rather stand out
when you look at, say,
Volvo.
Go to the
events,
4wd news
and
Saab
pages
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